A famous comedian once said, "I've been rich, and I've been poor, and believe me, rich is better." Well, I've been a good patient, and I've been a bad patient, and believe me, being a good patient helps to get you out of the hospital, but being a bad patient helps to get you back to real life.
Being a patient was the most devastating experience of my life. At a time when I was already fragile, already vulnerable, being labeled and treated only confirmed to me that I was worthless. It was clear ...
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Recovery is often defined conservatively as returning to a stable baseline or former level
of functioning. However many people, including myself, have experienced recovery as a
transformative process in which the old self is gradually let go of and a new sense of self
emerges. In this paper I will share my personal experience of recovery as a self-directed
process of healing and transformation and offer some suggestions as to how professionals
can support the recovery process.
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By:
Karl
| 4/14/2010
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Content Type: Personal stories
A time comes in your life when you finally get it. When in the midst of all your fears and insanity you stop dead in your tracks and somewhere the voice inside your head cries out - ENOUGH!
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By:
Debbie Sesula
| 4/28/2010
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Content Types: Personal stories, Poem
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By:
Andrea Schmook
| 4/28/2010
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Content Types: Article, Personal stories
(The Experience of Recovery: Edited by LeRoy Spaniol and Martin Koehler)
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The stories of mental illness are as varied as we are.
The following stories are from real people who have lived with mental illness and from their friends, who have supported them through recovery. Their words are powerful; their courage is inestimable. If you or somebody you know is coping with a mental health problem, take a look. You'll recognize fears, hopes, and dreams that you may be dealing with right now. Only by sharing can we come together as a community and send the outmoded stigmas...
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"The personal accounts found here are true stories of real people and their experiences with mental illnesses. These people have confronted prejudice and discrimination, but with help and hope are in recovery or know someone who has experienced recovery. They have chosen to share their stories to inspire others and help people understand that mental illnesses are real, common, and treatable—and that recovery is possible. A severe lack of awareness and understanding often creates misconceptions a...
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Welcome to Stories That Heal, a Web site for people living with mental health problems—and their friends and family. You'll find real-life stories and resources to help in the recovery process. It's time for us to stand up and support our loved ones who struggle with mental health problems. Together, the healing will begin.
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By:
Psychology Today
| 7/15/2011
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Content Types: Article, Personal stories, Practice description
Fear is a vital response to physical and emotional danger—if we couldn't feel it, we couldn't protect ourselves from legitimate threats. But often we fear situations that are in no way life-or-death, and thus hang back for no good reason. Traumas or bad experiences can trigger a fear response within us that is hard to quell… You may be wired to worry, but courage can be learned. This section of Psychology Today contains a wide variety of articles that focus on techniques for understanding and re...
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The personal accounts found here are true stories of real people and their experiences with mental health challenges or substance use problems. These people have confronted prejudice and discrimination, but with help and hope are in recovery or know someone who has experienced recovery. They have chosen to share their stories to inspire others and help people understand that these challenges and problems are real, common, and treatable—and that recovery is possible.
A severe lack of awareness a...
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Recovery stories spark hope that can give people the courage to take their first steps on their recovery journey.
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By:
Jose Flores
| 9/5/2012
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Content Type: Personal stories
My story is one of recovery from childhood.
Born in poverty in Texas—very far south, near the Mexican border—I was the first of my mom’s
six children between her two marriages. My father also remarried and had four other children.
Life was difficult. I started hearing voices at age 4 or 5. My recovery started in the 1980s after I
was hurt on the job. They diagnosed me with an abnormal brain wave, and later with
schizophrenia.
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I myself was first hospitalized and put on medication when I was 18, in 1997. I struggled to
graduate from college and have a normal life.
I would say that the latest area of recovery for me took place in 2007. That was when I started
working full time for Baltic Street AEH, Inc. I began as an administrative assistant and have
worked as a peer advocate since July 2009. I really feel happy here. I feel I can relate to others
and be myself. The work I do gives me meaning and purpose. I try to pass...
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By:
Anonymous
| 9/5/2012
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Content Type: Personal stories
So this is the story of how I got here,
from the violence to sadness and silence to fear.
And then how it shifted and finally changed,
how life got re‐centered and then re‐arranged.
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By:
Donna
| 9/5/2012
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Content Type: Personal stories
I am a 54‐year‐old woman living in the Pacific Northwest. I began experiencing symptoms of bipolar disorder as a young child. While still in kindergarten, I began attempting to harm myself.
In my teens, I began to drink heavily to self‐medicate. Before being diagnosed at age 34, my life felt like a major roller coaster. Even after my initial diagnosis, I continued to have major
symptoms for several years. I was told my life as I knew it was over, and I could no longer have my dreams and goals. I...
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My name is Jason Abijah Zimmerman, but most folks just call me “Jay.” I am a certified peer support counselor/technician for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), located in Mountain Home, Tenn.
I was born and raised in this area of Appalachia. After finishing college and losing my grandmother, I first began to feel depressed at the age of 21. I decided that the best way to handle these feelings and emotions was to run from them and hide them as best I could. So it was at that time I fo...
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I do not believe it is possible to fully recover from mental illness. I do think that one can halt its progression, and I do believe that one can unlearn the associated learned behaviors. I believe that one can manage the illness to significantly improve functionality. Through this definition, I have recovered from bipolar disorder.
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When I was thinking about recovery and how it has impacted my nursing practice, I came across a definition attributed to William Anthony (1993) from the Boston Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation. There is a line in that definition that really spoke to me: “It [recovery] is a way of living a satisfying, hopeful, and contributing life even with limitations caused by the illness.”
Now in my 50s, I have been battling mental illness all of my adult life. There have been many limitations posed by...
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By:
Karen Taylor
| 9/5/2012
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Content Types: Personal stories, Practice description
Can you hear voices and be healthy? Can people who hear overwhelming and distressing voices be helped to find ways to live successfully with their voices? Over the past 20 years, research and practice originating in Europe and developed in partnership with voice hearers indicate that this is indeed the case.
This empowering approach to assisting people—both adults and children—who hear voices and are distressed by them starts from the premise that voices are related to real feelings and emotio...
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Working to Recovery (WTR) was established in 2002 by Ron Coleman and Karen Taylor. Based in Scotland, WTR offers training and consultancy around the world to many different kinds of agencies and organizations specializing in mental health practice. In this article, Ron and Karen describe their approach to recovery, the work they do, and what motivates them.
We met at a community psychiatric nursing conference in 1998, fell in love, and have been together ever since. We might be regarded by some...
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By:
Drew Horn
| 9/5/2012
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Content Types: Personal stories, Practice description, Program description
The Turn-A-Frown Around Foundation (TAFA) is an organization whose sole mission is to end loneliness. We have been around for 10 years. I humbly share that we’ve won nine awards, including the Governor's Ambassador Award for the State of New Jersey, the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare award for Excellence in Family Advocacy, three awards from the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and recently, Eli Lilly’s National Award for Number One Achievement of a Consumer.
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Life is tough, even without a mental illness. In my opinion, everyone is recovering and on the road to what we call wellness. We all have our own definition of wellness and it may change from time to time.
As a person with a mental illness, I am no different. From childhood through the beginning of young adulthood, wellness hinged upon my level of maturity, whether physical or philosophical. Unfortunately, this process was interrupted by a mental illness called schizoaffective disorder.
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I had every advantage. I came from a home where everything was provided. I was on track to achieving a successful career and life. Then something happened. I became mentally ill.
At age 10, I was getting good grades in school and developing socially. I had my own newspaper delivery business and earned money shining shoes. In the summer, I mowed grass; in winter, I was paid to shovel snow. I was on the rise.
But something else happened that year. I started having the ability to read people's m...
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By:
Tom Kelly
| 9/5/2012
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Content Type: Personal stories
Growing up, I enjoyed many of the same advantages as others. From a very young age—thanks to my mother and father—I had everything necessary for a decent life. I always had a roof over my head, food on the table, and someone to take care of my needs. But when I was about 5 years old, I began showing signs of mental illness.
In kindergarten I had trouble communicating with others—partly because of my language development skills and partly because I was somewhat introverted. I remember encounter...
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My name is Keith Jamison and I am a registered nurse. I have 20 years of experience in health care, which began in Home Health and transitioned to psychiatric nursing for several years. Currently, I work as a nurse educator at the Julian F. Keith Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Center in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Outside of work, I have been involved in youth ministry for about 30 years, and serve as a youth pastor at Living Waters Tabernacle.
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By:
Gerald Butler
| 9/5/2012
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Content Types: Personal stories, Program description
I started drinking at the age of 11 because it was the only way to quiet the voices I'd been hearing all my life. It was the 60s and little was known about chemical imbalances and mental illness. By age 14 I was an alcoholic and spent the next 33 years hopeless and homeless, dealing with two diseases, alcoholism, and mental illness. In early recovery I realized I lacked a basic sense of self-esteem, so I picked up the flute I used to play before getting really sick. I was amazed how the music no...
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By:
Ziv
| 9/13/2012
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Content Type: Personal stories
I remember many things from my dark era, some more vividly than others. One of them, which I refer to as "the chill," makes me shiver even today, 7 long years after I last felt it. The reminder keeps me at arm's length from revisiting a place that is unlike any other. This somewhat grim opening to my recovery story is a poetic license of sorts, and it's meant to emphasize the difference between my life then and the life I've created for myself today.
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By:
Jackie West
| 9/13/2012
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Content Types: Clinical tools, Outcome tools, Personal stories, Program description
After 8 years in the substance abuse treatment field, I transitioned into community mental health. My exposure to mental health treatment while I was in college had been in a "white State hospital just beyond the borders of town" kind of place. Frontal lobotomies, electroshock therapy, and institutional care were what I considered the norm for mental health treatment.
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It never occurred to me a soldier’s addiction and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) would play a big part in my life. These were things that happened to old men who lived alone and got checks from the Government once a month. I was in for a big, disappointing surprise.
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By:
Kevin Coyle
| 9/13/2012
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Content Types: Clinical tools, Outcome tools, Personal stories
Ten years ago, back when I was 18, I planned to go to college and live a normal life as a deaf man. But the following year, I was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. The psychotic world in my mind that seemed so real at times threatened to imprison me in a realm of delusions. My passion for words kept me motivated in class, but once I graduated from college I sank into a pit of despair. I wrote and slept, but struggled to produce anything. It was my boyhood dream to be a writer, but a write...
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By:
Bill Rogers
| 9/13/2012
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Content Types: Clinical tools, Outcome tools, Personal stories, Program description
My story seems to have many beginnings and an ending I continue to search for. Based on my experience at Johns Hopkins Mood Disorders Center, I believe the use of occupational therapy (OT) methods to treat mental health disorders is extremely valuable. I think these methods are even more valuable for decreasing the likelihood of relapse. At the same time, for folks like me who suffer from mental illness, I feel there is disparity between the need for OT and what is currently being delivered.
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By:
Jose Flores
| 9/13/2012
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Content Type: Personal stories
My name is José Flores. I presently am employed by Mental Health America in Huntington Park, Calif., under the nonprofit agency Project Return Peer Support Network. My story is one of recovery from childhood.
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I just read an article on recovery about a man who lived in his room, isolating himself for 20 years. I found it both very touching and very sad. The article made me really have a lot of
empathy for this man. And it got me thinking about my clients and how many barriers there are to getting them into the office and to helping them with their benefits and whatever else they
may need to survive.
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By:
Sabrina Cito
| 9/14/2012
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Content Types: Article, Personal stories
Having used a recovery approach to practice in my work for approximately 6 years, I am amazed by how this has enhanced my interactions with individuals, as well as my overall experience as a mental health nurse. Recovery is all about individuals and
changing how we see people. Critical to a recovery approach is having hope for the future and the belief that each person can recover, and maintaining this hope and holding onto it—even when the individual, and others working with the person, are una...
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By:
Miriam Tepper
| 9/14/2012
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Content Types: Article, Clinical tools, Personal stories
My involvement in recovery-oriented practices was a lucky break. I had the good fortune to spend some time during residency at a flexible, innovative rehabilitation program, where I now work part-time as the Associate Director. After spending so much time in training on inpatient psychiatry units and crisis-filled emergency rooms, it was simply incredible to sit with individuals with serious mental illness and talk about what their dreams are, what has gotten in their way, how a job has helped t...
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By:
Alysa Solomon,
| 9/14/2012
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Content Types: Article, Personal stories
As a mental health provider and fan of the Los Angeles Lakers, I was intrigued when I heard Lakers star forward Ron Artest, following his team’s triumph in last year’s NBA
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Two bits of information recently came to me that, taken together, caused me to formulate the following, inescapable conclusion: persons with a mental illness, particularly those with schizophrenia, are destined to lead the world.
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By:
Mark Ragins M.D.
| 9/18/2012
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Content Types: Article, Outcome tools, Personal stories
Many people are dissatisfied with our current mental health system, and yet, true change is rare. The combined forces of inertia, politics, reimbursement procedures, bureaucracy, liability fears, and hopelessness often seem too formidable to overcome. They can, however, be vanquished if we work under a banner of clearly articulated vision and values. Deinstitutionalization proved that. I believe that banner now should be passed on to recovery.
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By:
Glenn Kamber M.A., M.S.
| 9/18/2012
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Content Types: Article, Clinical tools, Personal stories, Practice description
I am a trained marriage and family therapist, and it seems to me recovery principles of consumer-driven service and consumer-defined success are at the very core of what my profession teaches and strives to achieve among those who seek our assistance.
First and foremost, the goal of marriage and family therapy is to help people solve problems or issues identified by them. The process of marriage and family counseling, when done well, helps people to clarify issues, needs, and ways to move forwa...
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A few years ago, when I was in South Carolina, I was amazed to get an email from "Mr. R.," a man I had provided care to when I was a resident at Columbia University. He said I probably didn't remember him, but that he had often wanted to contact me during the almost 35 years since we last saw each other. He wanted to tell me he had done okay in life, which he thought would surprise me. Mr. R. remembered me as arrogant, pessimistic about his future, and not very helpful. I was stunned, since he w...
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By:
William Stride
| 9/18/2012
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Content Types: Outcome tools, Personal stories
*Based on a letter written to attendees of Peer Education Training Day at Vinfen Corporation in Boston, Mass., March 2007
Dear Peer Educators:
Our meeting today has been uplifting and inspiring. There has been much love, laughter, and even tears of joy. We have come together to celebrate success in helping ourselves and others. We have reaffirmed our commitment to those who need help and guidance.
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"As a boy, I always wanted to help people. When my journey took me other places and eventually repeated incarceration, I knew my dream was gone forever. Bringing me this program has given me the hope and possibility that I can be that man I always wanted to be. Thank you for returning me to me." —Anonymous
This was one of the many moving and uplifting statements from Peer Employment Training (PET) graduates at a state correctional institution. In my eyes, the graduation was as beautiful and mea...
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By:
Andy Bernstein, Ph.D., CPRP
| 9/18/2012
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Content Types: Article, Clinical tools, Outcome tools, Personal stories, Practice description
Before describing how the recovery paradigm manifests in my practice as a clinician, I would like to say a few words about how I came to this place. Although it was not a typical psychologist's career path, my professional journey has taught me lessons on recovery that can and should be learned in other ways.
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By:
Howard Josepher, LCSW
| 9/18/2012
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Content Types: Article, Outcome tools, Personal stories, Research
In one form or another, I have been a recovery advocate for more than 40 years. My journey began in 1968, after treatment in a therapeutic community program helped me overcome a 7-year heroin addiction. Treatment as we know it today did not exist, and the commonly held belief was "once an addict, always an addict."
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By:
Rita Cronise
| 9/18/2012
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Content Types: Article, Clinical tools, Personal stories, Research
It was the summer of 2008 and I had just returned from Focus on Recovery United in Middletown, Connecticut, where I'd spent a whirlwind week with Shery Mead, Chris Hansen, and Heather McDonald learning to be a facilitator for Intentional Peer Support (IPS). I was eager to share what I had learned when I got back home to Rochester, New York.
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By:
Christine Dowling
| 10/10/2012
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Content Types: Clinical tools, Curricula, Personal stories, Practice description, Program description, Training material
In response to the tragedy that occurred on January 8, 2011, when 19 people were shot during a public meeting in Casas Adobes, Arizona agencies and organizations* banded together to promote Statewide Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training.
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By:
M. C. Violet Taylor
| 10/11/2012
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Content Types: Article, Clinical tools, Personal stories, Program description, Research
Reciprocal Supervision is a term I coined to describe the egalitarian relationship I have with my supervisor. She is the Assistant Chief Nursing Executive in a locked mental health institute and I am a Regional Peer Bridger—the consumer on staff. We work in an acute care setting, where the spectrum of mental health issues, cultures, languages, abilities, and lifestyles is as varied among consumers as it is among coworkers. Our State has not been as progressive as it has been diverse. Peer Suppor...
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By:
Charles Weinberg
| 10/15/2012
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Content Types: Article, Personal stories, Practice description
How do we feel about use of the term "mental illness"? The phrase is prevalent in mental health and may continue to be broadly used for quite some time. To the extent that its use destigmatizes (because it can mean "I am not crazy" and "I am not bad"), it is a good thing. To the extent that it validates the uniqueness of someone's experience and helps providers be empathetic, it is a good thing. To the extent that it helps find statistically valid and empirically confirmed biochemical or genetic...
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By:
Celinda Jungheim
| 10/17/2012
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Content Types: Outcome tools, Personal stories
I cherish my mental health and I worked hard to get it. More than 40 years ago, I didn't even want to live. Of course I couldn't imagine a happy life. But today my life is full and meaningful. How I got to this point has become my life story.
As I look back, I know I suffered from depression as a child. There were days when I stayed in my room for hours, brooding and thinking dark, hateful thoughts. I was angry at the world and hated myself. But nice people don't show that kind of anger, so I ...
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By:
Jill Shepherd
| 10/17/2012
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Content Types: Personal stories, Program description
As a Peer Support Specialist II for the Fresno County Department of Behavioral Health, I work with consumers all day long. My main responsibility is to schedule assessments for clinicians within our department. I am also responsible for two consumer groups. One is a rehabilitation group that I co-facilitate. The other is a support group that emphasizes wellness and recovery, and I am the main facilitator. Each week, 11 to 12 people participate in the support group. As the sessions move forward, ...
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By:
Recovery Radio Network
| 10/31/2012
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Content Types: Article, Books, Personal stories, Research, Video, Web site
The Recovery Radio Network is a collection of Internet based radio stations providing recovery speakers, Twelve-Step workshops and, important insights from the medical profession "on demand" in a streaming media format. We are a non-profit corporation formed in 2004 with the mission of providing Internet based streaming audio content to the community of people recovering from Alcoholism, Co-dependency and Substance abuse. We also provide an additional resource for those professionals working in...
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By:
Dale Walsh
| 11/27/2012
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Content Types: Article, Personal stories
Ihave worked in the field of mental
health for about 20 years. I can talk
about this part of my life easily. I have
also been a survivor of a long-term psychiatric disability for most of my childhood and adult life, and I am a survivor
of the mental health system, both public and private. This is the harder part of
my life to talk about. I have walked on
both sides of the fence, so to speak
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By:
Hazelden
| 11/29/2012
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Content Types: Books, Personal stories, Program description
This compelling book The Dual Disorders Recovery Book, written for those of us with an addiction and a psychiatric illness, provides a source of information and support throughout our recovery. Personal stories offer experience, strength, and hope as well as expert advice. The book offers information on how Steps 1-5 apply specifically to us. An appendix includes a "Blueprint for Recovery," the meeting format of Dual Recovery Anonymous, and self-help resources.
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Recovery: In Our Own Words is a collection of personal stories of recovery and transformation, based on the Ten Fundamental Components of Recovery from the National Consensus Statement on Mental Health Recovery, and shared by Keystone Community Mental Health Services' Leadership Council and Recovery Specialists. These are powerful stories of strength and inspiration, giving readers a message of hope for the future.
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The experiences of long-stay inpatients returning to the community.
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This study explores ways in which high-functioning former patients integrate the experience of prior psychiatric hospitalization into their lives and find meaning from that event. The narratives underscore that the process of integrating and making meaning of important life events such as psychiatric hospitalization occur within a social context.
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By:
Norman Cousins
| 12/5/2012
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Content Types: Books, Personal stories
Anatomy of an Illness was the first book by a patient that spoke to our current interest in taking charge of our own health. It started the revolution in patients working with their doctors and using humor to boost their bodies' capacity for healing. When Norman Cousins was diagnosed with a crippling and irreversible disease, he forged an unusual collaboration with his physician, and together they were able to beat the odds. The doctor's genius was in helping his patient to use his own powers: l...
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On Our Own is Judi's story as a patient in both public and private hospitals. The story explores her experiences while being a patient as well as the lessons she learned while using services controlled by the patients themselves. It makes a compelling case for patient controlled services; a real alternative to the institutions that destroy the confident independence of so many. This is a work of great hope and optimism.
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The stories of mental illness are as varied as we are.
The following stories are from real people who have lived with mental illness and from their friends who have supported them through recovery. Their words are powerful; their courage is inestimable. If you or somebody you know is coping with a mental health problem, take a look. You'll recognize fears, hopes, and dreams that you may be dealing with right now. Only by sharing can we come together as a community and send the outmoded stigmas p...
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Marie Balter’s courageous story of hope and healing has inspired millions around the country. After spending the first twenty years of her adult life in a mental hospital, she gradually emerged from the terror of the back wards, eventually to attend graduate school at Harvard University and become a leading champion for the mentally ill.
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Open Spaces has won local and national awards for its honest and moving portrayal of persons in recovery from psychiatric disorders. This documentary is vital for anyone who questions the existence or power of recovery
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It was 1962 and Robert Neugeboren, just shy of his nineteenth birthday, experienced the first of what would be many psychiatric hospitalizations. For the first six months of this first hospitalization, Robert kept a diary of his daily life at Hillside Hospital.
The Hillside Diary and Other Writings includes this diary, and selected letters and poems written by Robert over a period of many years and many hospitalizations. Compiled and edited by Jay Neugeboren, Robert’s brother and life-long advo...
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Recovery: In Our Own Words is a collection of personal stories of recovery and transformation, based on the Ten Fundamental Components of Recovery from the National Consensus Statement on Mental Health Recovery, and shared by Keystone Community Mental Health Services' Leadership Council and Recovery Specialists. These are powerful stories of strength and inspiration, giving readers a message of hope for the future.
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This paper describes a first person account of recovering from schizophrenia. Recovery is described as a transformative process as opposed to merely achieving stabilization or returning to baseline. The self-directed nature of the recovery process is highlighted with suggestions as to how professionals can support recovery.
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By:
Ed L
| 12/12/2012
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Content Type: Personal stories
I am sharing my story in the hopes that I will leave a lasting gift and that it will give hope of recovery to my brothers and sisters who come after me.
Let me start from the beginning. When I was about four years old, I became aware of feelings that I didn?t belong in my surroundings. It was at age seven, when I picked up my first drink, did I feel accepted. It was absolutely wonderful! It quieted my fears, my inferiority complex, and my wandering thoughts and helped me to think of myself as ?S...
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By:
Tammy Heinz
| 12/12/2012
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Content Types: Article, Personal stories
When I was first diagnosed with a mental health disorder, I had mixed feelings. It was comforting to finally put a name on something I had experienced for years. Outwardly I was social and active in high school and college, but the self-loathing I experienced left me feeling very alone. I didn’t want to subject anyone else to the darkness I lived in, and yet I longed to connect with someone on a deeper level. I gradually felt less alone as I came to know other people who experienced feelings sim...
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In the more than twenty-five years since she co-founded Omega Institute - now the world's largest center for spiritual retreat and personal growth -Elizabeth Lesser has been an intimate witness to the ways in which people weather change and transition. In a beautifully crafted blend of moving stories, humorous insights, practical guidance, and personal memoir, she offers tools to help us make the choice we all face in times of challenge: Will we be broken down and defeated, or broken open and tr...
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By:
Marty Wurtz
| 12/13/2012
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Content Types: Books, Personal stories
As difficult as it will be to believe, this is a true story. After the struggles and hardships of a childhood straight from Hell, Marty worked hard throughout her life toward her hopes and dreams. She fought through tragedies, heartbreaks, and disappointments. In spite of it all, she had many triumphs. Full of ambition for what she wanted her life to be, Marty still had a very strong sense of responsibility to be there for her family as well as all of her in-laws.
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By:
Cary Barbor
| 12/13/2012
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Content Types: Article, Personal stories
In the highlands of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, people look at life differently. Upon entering the local Buddhist monastery, there is a spectacular sculpture the size of a large oak. The intricate carving of clouds and patterns are painted in powerful colors. But as soon as winter gives way, this magnificent work will melt to nothing. The sculpture, in fact, is made of butter, and it is one of the highland people's symbols of the transient nature of life.
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By:
Karen Taylor
| 12/14/2012
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Content Types: Article, Outcome tools, Personal stories
Can you hear voices and be healthy? Can people who hear overwhelming and distressing voices be helped to find ways to live successfully with their voices? Over the past 20 years, research and practice originating in Europe and developed in partnership with voice hearers indicate that this is indeed the case.
This empowering approach to assisting people—both adults and children—who hear voices and are distressed by them starts from the premise that voices are related to real feelings and emotio...
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By:
Marcia Lovejoy
| 12/14/2012
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Content Types: Article, Clinical tools, Personal stories, Research
Personal experience is used to illustrate the effects of expectations on a patient's self-esteem and hope. The author, who was diagnosed as having chronic schizophrenia, points to the self-fulfilling nature of expecting a poor outcome. Project Overcome is one attempt to provide patients, families, mental health professionals, and the general public with models of successful patients. Former patients are available to lecture about their past experiences, thereby demonstrating through their action...
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The personal accounts found here are true stories of real people and their experiences with mental health challenges or substance use problems. These people have confronted prejudice and discrimination, but with help and hope are in recovery or know someone who has experienced recovery. They have chosen to share their stories to inspire others and help people understand that these challenges and problems are real, common, and treatable—and that recovery is possible.
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By:
Reneé Kopache
| 12/18/2012
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Content Types: Article, Personal stories
The Ohio Department of Mental Health defines recovery as “the process of overcoming the
negative impact of a psychiatric disability despite its continued presence.” To me, the definition
implies that there are positive impacts of a psychiatric disability. Otherwise, wouldn’t the
definition have been “overcoming the impact of a psychiatric disability?” As such, I found
myself asking, are there positive impacts? After giving it some thought, I’ve concluded that
there can in fact be positi...
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Recovery has only recently become a word used in relation to the experience of psychiatric
symptoms. Those of us who experience psychiatric symptoms are commonly told that these
symptoms are incurable, that we will have to live with them for the rest of our lives, that the
medications, if they (health care professionals) can find the right ones or the right combination,
may help, and that we will always have to take the medications. Many of us have even been told
that these symptoms will ...
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By:
Mark Ragins
| 12/20/2012
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Content Types: Article, Personal stories
We began the Village with high hopes for our work with families. They had been strong advocates for
the creation of the Village. We included them in our advisory board. They were included in our outcome
study. We held several “open house” nights for families emphasizing Social Security and employment. I began doing family psychoeducation classes on medications and mental illnesses. But our programming
never grew much beyond that.
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By:
Mark Ragins
| 12/20/2012
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Content Types: Article, Personal stories
I was taught in medical school that the foundation of a good treatment is a good diagnosis. I no longer agree. I now think that the foundation of good treatment is a good relationship. If I have a perfect diagnosis, but no relationship, the treatment will go nowhere. If, on the other hand, I have the wrong diagnosis, but a good relationship, I’ll eventually figure it out. The person may even help me correct my diagnosis after a while, if they trust me, by telling me about the speed they shoot up...
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Recovery has only recently become a word used in relation to the experience of psychiatric
symptoms. Those of us who experience psychiatric symptoms are commonly told that these
symptoms are incurable, that we will have to live with them for the rest of our lives, that the
medications, if they (health care professionals) can find the right ones or the right combination,
may help, and that we will always have to take the medications. Many of us have even been told
that these symptoms will ...
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This one-of-a-kind project invites people who struggle with mental illnesses to break the silence and share their stories. We all know how empowering human connections are to those seeking wellness and recovery. By speaking out about your experiences, you help give a voice to the 57.7 million American adults—and as many as one in 10 children—who have a mental health disorder.
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The Ohio Department of Mental Health defines recovery as “the process of overcoming the
negative impact of a psychiatric disability despite its continued presence.” To me, the definition
implies that there are positive impacts of a psychiatric disability. Otherwise, wouldn’t the
definition have been “overcoming the impact of a psychiatric disability?” As such, I found
myself asking, are there positive impacts? After giving it some thought, I’ve concluded that
there can in fact be positi...
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Because of many sources of support, including Dr. Robert Landeen (a psychiatrist) and EMDR, friends, family, and support programs, I am in recovery from both substance abuse and mental illness. Even more than that, my life is full and rich and blessed with productive, meaningful activities, as well as sublime moments of rest and relaxation. I feel connected to my neighborhood, my local community, my friends, and my family. I’ve learned to take good care of myself, to craft my days such that my n...
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Please take the time to read Christine Miserandino’s personal story and analogy of what it is like to live with sickness or disability.
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I would like to thank you for this opportunity to speak with you today. I am
especially pleased to be speaking to so
many faculty and field supervisors. Your
task is very important. You are teaching
students who will become tomorrow’s
mental health professionals. The message I would like to bring to you today
is that it is not enough to merely teach
them facts and figures and knowledge.
We must also help students to seek
wisdom.
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By:
Renee Kopache
| 1/3/2013
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Content Types: Article, Personal stories, Web site
During the past year I’ve spoken to mental health professionals at various functions about recovery from mental illness and my personal recovery experiences. The opportunity to speak about my mental illness and my recovery from it has been tremendously healing and has further enhanced my recovery. Likewise, provider feedback has indicated that, by sharing their experiences, consumers have helped mental health professionals gain a better understanding of mental health recovery.
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They said I would never get better. I would always be mentally ill. They said I would be in and out of mental hospitals the rest of my life. I could never be the person I was before my mental illness. I made up my mind in the mental hospital that I would prove them wrong. I would get better and help others know they could too.
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NEC receives many requests each week of people looking for information on recovery from mental illness. We believe one of the most helpful resources is to hear the stories of those who have an actual experience of recovery. For that reason we are excited to begin a new page on our website dedicated to the stories of some folks who have had an experience of severe emotional anguish some call “mental illness” and who have had the experience of recovery. Their words can tell you most authentically ...
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After more than 20 years of not going to a grocery store, restaurant, or public place alone, not driving out of my safe area and not attending school functions for my children, I began my difficult recovery from panic disorder, agoraphobia, and social anxiety disorder.
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